A Means to an End
by Lost Triforce
Summary: With only a week left to live, Snake's friend pull together to save him. At the same time, the B&B corp get a second chance- but not without some serious strings attached. When their paths cross once again with Snake's, they find themselves working together to take down an old threat. Some HalxMeiLing, SnakexCryingWolf, after MGS4 ending


**Feel free to skip this rambling at the top and jump straight into the fic! Otherwise, this is basically a rewrite of The Snake and The Wolf. I reread it recently and nearly vomited. So this is an attempt at trashing and revamping the whole thing! I hope you enjoy!**

**A Means To an End**

...1.7-6819-0000000000-7'583-34' 34'785...

"I don't get it, Mei Ling! I just don't get it!"

000000000. ENTER.

"PLEASE INSERT MEMORY"

"If Naomi found a way to cure FOXDIE, why would she have left part of the coding missing!? DAMNIT!"

Hal slammed his fist down on his desk, frustrated. Snake had been left in a comatose state, completely at the end of his rope, in the hope that Otacon and Mei Ling could find some way to stop or postpone him going into cardiac arrest. Now, with only a week left until the FOXDIE would finish the job, they were scrambling for a solution. The only clue they had was a video Naomi left behind, but it was heavily encrypted, stumping both of Snake's associates.

"Calm down, Hal! Think! Is there anything else Naomi left us that could help? Another file of hers? DNA sampling? Anything?"

"No. The missing part of the code requires an audio file. I've uploaded every audio clip Naomi left behind, and nothing."

Mei Ling sighed, pacing the floor in front of the bed where the unconscious Snake lied.

"'Insert memory'? It has to be some sort of drive or disc. Something only you or I would have. Colonel, might know, even."

"I doubt it. Naomi only trusted us with this, and we can't even figure it out..."

Otacon gripped the sides of the desk in front of him, knuckles turning white as cold sweat dripped onto the keyboard beneath him.

"And now Snake's going to die because of me!"

Otacon swept the files on the desk onto the floor with one fell swoop, body falling over his desk as he broke down for the third time that week. Upstairs, Mei Ling could hear the pattering of scared feet running into their room.

"Hal, please," she breathed, placing a hand on his back soothingly. "We'll figure this out, I promise. But I think this is all scaring Sunny. Maybe we should see if Rose and Jack can take her for a while?"

Wiping tears from his eyes and sniffing, Otacon nodded in agreement.

"You're right. She shouldn't be here to see this. I'll call Rose, you keep thinking, okay?"

Mei Ling smiled sadly and nodded, touching her hand to his cheek before he left.

"At least," she muttered to herself, looking over at Snake's still body, "I sure hope we can figure it out."

"C'mon bitch, let's go, the boss is calling."

The cell in which Crying Wolf resided was small, cold, and depressing. For a moment, one too short moment, she thought she had peace. Solid Snake had finished her off and left her to die in peace. Anything robotic within her had shut down to protect itself from further damage, her natural body was spent. She was free to die, to join her brother.

Then there was light.

And pain.

And fear.

And crying. The same endless crying that had plagued her since slaughtering her brother. Again, she had to face the monster she'd created of herself as she was revived. Recycled to be manipulated and used again. Tortured to inspire the fear and self loathing which gave her her immense power.

But now they wanted something else. What more could they ask of her broken tortured soul. She longed for death, to slip off into the ether and be free. To return to her home not as it was in reality, but as the paradise she pictured in her mind.

The soldier, who's affiliation was unknown to her, slumped her into a chair roughly. A too-bright light snapped on overhead, and as she squinted Wolf could see she was in front of a small crowd.

Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks as she screamed and cried uncontrollably. She'd been put on display, for whatever reason, and it scared her. Every face in the crowd became that of a wolf, snarling and snapping at her, threatening her.

A man in a green military uniform stepped forward, smirking as his men placed restraints on Wolf to prevent her from writhing.

"This, ladies and gents, is exactly what I'm talking about. In a world that thrives on warfare, severe cases of PTSD are found through over a third of the world's population. But through a series of very complicated tests, I've found a way to end it. Watch history in the making!"

A man in a lab coat walked over to Wolf's sobbing form, syringe in hand. He them unceremoniously jabbed the syringe into her neck, smirking beneath a surgical mask as she slowly relaxed.

Wolf felt the room sway slightly, feelings of fear and guilt melting away, faces in the crowd returning to human rather than lupine. For the first time since her near death, she felt whole, like she could breath again.

Like she didn't need to cry.

The crowd seemed to key into this and all stood, clapping and cheering.

"Yes, this is a miracle of science no one expected so soon. But it's not the only cure we've found. Schizophrenia, dementia, Alzheimer's even! We've found cures to what ails the world, and that's only on the mental side of the equation! But don't just take my word for it, lets cure some more PTSD patients, shall we? I've two more subjects to show you..."

Two more lights snapped on in the room as Raging Raven and Laughing Octopus were revealed. Octopus, of course, was laughing hysterically at the sight of the crowd, clutching the arms of the chair she was tied to for dear life. Raven was not in a chair, but on a vertical board with thick metal restraints. She screamed and thrashed violently against the board, shrieking obscenities at everything and anyone. Both were administered the cure, relaxing instantly as if tranquilized, eyes filling with confusion at the situation at hand as the crowd cheered.

"There you have it! Now, while we discuss business, I'm going to send our lovely ladies out into the world. With their situation like it is now, they'll no doubt have no issues rejoining society. Goodbye, ladies!"

As they we're being wheeled out, Wolf turned to the ring leaded, staring dead at an insignia on his arm- a massive black dagger through a skull. She memorized it as everything slipped into black, allowing herself to fade into nothingness.

"I'm sorry, Rose, I know this is sudden, but with things like they are..."

"I understand, Mei Ling. Jack and I will make sure Sunny is comfortable for the week. Then..."

"Then we'll take things as they come," Mei Ling sighed, staring sadly at her feet.

Sunny shuffled slowly downstairs, draging her baby blue suitcase behind her. She didn't quite meet Rosemary's eyes as she began to talk to her.

"Do you have everything you need sweetheart?"

"Mm-hm."

"Ready to go?"

"I guess so."

Rosemary nodded at Mei Ling and headed for the door, Sunny shuffling slowly behind her. Then, suddenly, Sunny dropped her suitcase and ran for Snake's body, flinging herself over it, sobbing.

"You can't die, Uncle Dave, you just can't! It's not fair!"

Mei Ling and Rosemary worked together to pull Sunny off of Snake. She then had to be dragged out of Otacon's small home and into Rosemary's car.

"Is Sunny gone yet?" Otacon asked, slinking out of his room from a fruitless nap.

"Yes, albeit painfully. Snake's condition is really affecting her."

"I know. Let's get back to it then, shall we?"

"Yeah, may as well."

"It's been that bad over there?"

Rosemary sighed as she closed the door to the guest room where Sunny was sleeping, turning toward Raiden, who was combing his fingers through an also-sleeping John's hair.

"Yeah, it is. They've been working day and night to solve that encryption, and they're so close, but there's a 9-digit gap in the data that they can't figure out."

Raiden lifted John up, carrying him to his room as Rosemary followed behind.

"Are they sure that Naomi can cure Snake? I thought there was no cure?"

"There may not be, but anything to help Snake at this point is better than nothing. They've only got a week left..."

Raiden sighed, shaking his head at the whole situation.

"What about Hal and Mei Ling themselves? Are they doing okay?"

"I doubt they even realize their feelings for each other," Rosemary muttered. "It's really a shame, their good for each other..."

"Maybe after this whole ordeal is over they'll realize that."

"Maybe Snake can be there to force them to realize that..."

Raiden chuckled, pulling Rosemary into a tight hug and resting his jaw on her head.

"It'll be okay, I know it will."

"A condo in the nicest part of town... A cure for my misery... A promise for a better future. Something just doesn't fit here..."

Wolf paced the floor of her new home, gifted to her by her former captives, as she attempted to riddle out the events of the past month. Dropping into a crossed legged sitting position on the floor, she concentrated on the memory of her brother. Of the wolves that came for the children. Of her people being slaughtered. She waited for the tears to come, to be overwhelmed by fear and anger, but they didn't.

She was sad to remember her pathetic old life, felt guilty for murdering so many, disgusted at the violence she witnessed... But that was it. She wasn't driven mad by it anymore, it didn't consume her. And that was scary.

How anyone could have found a cure for PTSD without simply erasing the memories or the emotions behind them was beyond her reach. But that was just it- they were memories now, far behind her, still there, but not bleeding into her reality as they used to.

Wolf jumped as there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Come in?"

In walked a much quieter Laughing Octopus, clutching her arm self-consciously as she addressed Wolf. Even though the four women were part of the same unit, they'd only ever seen each other once- while still in gear.

"They put you up here, too, huh? Heh, I can't figure this out..."

Octopus smiled absentmindedly as she crossed the threshold to the large window behind Wolf.

"I mean, one minute I was there, slaughtering my family, and now..."

She stared out the window, then down at her hands, and then at Wolf.

"And now I'm here, present for the first time in a long time..." She laughed nervously, waiting for Wolf to say something.

"And now..."

"And now we're here. After they used us, beat us, tortured us, turned us into monsters... They cure us and send us away. What sense does that make?"

Octopus shrugged, looking off into the distance again.

Both jumped this time as a loud banging could be heard from the hall way.

"Open this door up or I'll knock it the fuck down!"

Octupus walked over to the door, pulling it open and laughing as she watched a very pissed off looking Raging Raven storm into the room.

"This is fucking ridiculous! After all this time they drag us out of the mud and put us here?! What the hell is this?!"

Octopus laughed even louder as Raven plopped down on Wolf's couch with as much menace as she possibly could.

"Wow, Raven, maybe that cure didn't work. Maybe they should stick you a few more times!"

Still laughing hysterically, Octopus narrowly dodged a pillow that was chucked her way.

"She has a point, Octopus, it doesn't make any sense," Wolf murmured solemnly.

"We have a bigger issue, anyway," Raven snapped. "When's the last time either of you saw Screaming Mantis?"

Octopus and Wolf looked at each other, then back at Raven.

"I...don't know," Octopus muttered, smile finally fading. "I saw her get dragged in with us after battling Snake...but that was it..."

Raven paced back and forth, only stopping to punch the wall so hard the plaster almost gave way.

"Damnit, I knew something was up!"

"Well we can't just wait around trying to figure it out! If we get a second chance, Mantis should get one, too!" Wolf asserted.

Both Raven and Octopus nodded in agreement, rushing out of the door with a mission, but no clear plan.

With Otacon asleep, Mei Ling was left to watch after Snake to make sure he didn't face any additional complications.

"You're gonna be alright, Snake, Otacon and I will figure this out, I swear... I'm not giving up on you..."

Mei Ling combed her fingers through his thin grey hair, frowning at how unresponsive he was.

"And when we do," She said, voice growing stronger as hot tears rolled down her cheeks, "I'm taking you both out to the best damn Chinese restaurant I know of! The real stuff, too! Not that garbage in the little white boxes you and Otacon eat since you're both too lazy to cook!"

Pulling herself away from Snake's bed, Mei Ling sat back down at Otacon's computer, the "INSERT MEMORY" screen staring her in the face as she plunged back into Naomi's files, searching for a solution with new found vigor.

"Hold on, you two!"

Octopus and Raven stopped dead in their tracks as Wolf shouted out at them. The streets were dark, now, and only the lights of the hotel-like condo building lit up the night around them.

"Do you have any idea where you're going? Or where we even are?"

"Damn it, Wolf! Of course I do! We're in California. San Francisco, actually, and we're going back to the base where we were being kept!"

"How would you even know where that is? And how do you know where we are now? They knocked all of us out before they dropped us off here."

Raven let out a shout of agitation.

"Look, I'll explain all of that on the way, ok? We have to move!"

"And how do you propose we save Mantis with no weapons?"

Octopus asked, crossing her arms over her chest, an amused look on her face.

"That's where I'm going, you stupid cow! C'mon, we have a flight to catch!"

Nodding at each other, Wolf and Octopus joined Raven in her mad dash for the airport.

"Wait!

Raven and Wolf stopped as Octopus shouted.

"What the hell is it now?!"

"Well... I was just thinking..."

"Spit it the fuck out!"

"If we're gonna go save Mantis together, don'tcha think we should know each other's names?"

"Oh you've GOT to be FUCKING kidding me."

Octopus batted her long

eyelashes at Raven, smiling wildly.

Raven sighed.

"Bethari. Bethari Mara. But I go by Ari so if you call me anything other than that and Raven, I'll rip your heart out through your esophagus."

"Is that even possible?" Wolf muttered under her breath.

"I'll make it possible."

Octopus laughed gleefully at Ari, bouncing from side to side like a small child.

"See? Was that so hard?"

"Don't test me, bitch."

"Okay, so, Ari. Well, my real name is Jeneve Akari, but you guys can call me Jen."

Ari nodded at Jen, eyes still burning with annoyance. Both turned expectantly at Wolf, whose eyes were cast at the ground.

"Can we just stick with Wolf?" She whispered, hardly audible over the rain which had just began.

Jen 'aww'ed as Ari snapped "Fine, suit yourself, but unless you want to be soaked, we need to catch that plane! Let's GO!"

"Alright!"

The three ladies took up their sprint again as the rain came down harder.

Six days passed much faster than Otacon or Mei Ling could have ever imagined. With no key to Naomi's data, "INSERT MEMORY" blared on Otacon's screen in a way that was almost insulting. Beneath it, an audio application was left open and still recording, abandoned from an earlier attempt at cracking the code.

"We did everything we could, Hal," Mei Ling sniffed, jumping slightly as thunder roared across the sky.

"Mother nature is relentless, huh?" Otacon breathed, voice hoarse. "It's been like this all week..."

"Yea..."

"D'you think we should start planing his... You know..."

"Funeral?"

"...Yea..."

"How do you plan a funeral for someone like Snake?"

"Hah... I don't know, Mei..."

The room was silent for a moment, the steady 'beep...beep...beep' of Snake's life support and the rain the only sound in room."

"You know," Otacon sighed, smiling sadly, "I remember when I first met Snake. Ha! To think! I pissed my pants right in front of him!"

Mei Ling and Otacon both laughed, wiping away tears.

"Yeah... I still remember how he said I sounded too cute to be in my position on our first codec call. I don't think I've ever blushed harder in my life!"

Again they laughed, and as they both calmed down the beeping and thunder were the only sounds that could be heard.

"...Hal?"

"Yes?"

"... I'm going to miss him."

"Me too..."

Suddenly there was a loud commotion from the computer.

"MEMORY ACCEPTED- LOADING VIDEO"

"WHAT?!"

Mei Ling and Otacon rushed over to the screen, Otacon slapping a hand over his face as they waited for the video to load.

"Of course! Memory! As in an actual memory of us and Snake! Something-"

"That only we'd have!"

"Well, there were others to witness too-"

"But they wouldn't have the sentiment behind it! Naomi, you're a genius!"

The video hummed to life, the late Naomi dripping in sweat, eyes shifting back and forth as she began recording.

"Hal? Mei Ling? Listen, I know what's going on with Snake and the FOXDIE virus- or I should say, more than I knew before. I know the timing on this is a little less than convenient, but it's all I can do. Maybe one day this will all make sense. I'm going to try to synthesize something to help Snake fight off the affects of the FOXDIE and reverse his accelerated aging. Whether or not I actually pull this off remains to be seen."

The video cut out and returned on a scene of Naomi on the floor, one of Ocelot's soldiers kicking her harshly.

"What are you doing in here?! You're on strict orders from the boss!"

"Nothing! Nothing! I swear I'm only doing what he asked!"

"Lying bitch!"

He kicked her again, a sickening crunch could be heard as one of her ribs broke.

"I'm not doing anything!"

The soldier grabbed her roughly by the arm, tearing her jacket off.

"There's more than one way to get you to talk!"

"I can't watch this," Mei Ling sobbed, hiding her face in Otacon's chest as he worked to fast forward the video. Finally he ended on a scene of Naomi, battered and abused, but holding a syringe.

"This is it," Naomi gasped. "For are the sins I've committed, maybe this will atone for some of it. I can't cure FOXDIE, but I can at least halt it." Tears streamed down Naomi's face as she grinned. "This, this syringe, means ten more years for Snake. I only had enough to create the one vial, but I'm sure you and Mei Ling can resynthesize it." Naomi took in another ragged breath and continued. "I used some of technology from my nanomachines to create a virus that would essentially freeze the FOXDIE and stop it from causing Snake to go into cardiac arrest."

There was a loud banging in the background of the video as the soldiers called on Naomi. She turned to look at the door and the snapped back to her camera.

"I don't have time to explain everything, I'll leave this and all the answers with someone I can trust. Good luck, guys."

The video cut out, replaced by a singular word.

"DREBIN"

"Drebin?! Drebin has the syringe to save Snake?! Why didn't he-"

"Does it matter?! We can save him, Hal! Where's Drebin now?"

Otacon pulled up a screen on his computer, tracking down the gun launderer.

"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!"

"What?"

"He's in Rio!"

Mei Ling sprung up off of Otacon's lap (where she had somehow migrated to) and picked up her jacket.

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think I'm going? We only have 26, maybe 27 hours to save Snake! I'm going to go meet Drebin in Rio."

"No way!"

Otacon quickly crossed the room, grabbing Mei Ling's shoulders.

"I should be the one to go. You stat here and make sure Snake stays stable."

"Hal-"

"I'll go."

Both Otacon and Mei Ling turned to the front door where Raiden was standing, already in full gear.

"I'll go to Rio and find Drebin. Hopefully I'll bring him back to answer some questions, too. You both need to stay here and watch Snake."

Otacon and Mei Ling nodded, moving to prep Snake for the 'cure'.

"Raidan please, be quick," Mei Ling whispered.

Raiden turned and ran, thunder booming loudly as lightning streaked the sky.

They were running out of time.


End file.
